Trump continues war of words with family of Muslim U.S. soldier

Khizr Khan speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday with his wife, Ghazala.

By

RichardRubin

Donald Trump engaged in a back-and-forth Sunday with the parents of a dead American soldier, extending an argument between the Republican presidential candidate and Muslim immigrants who were largely unknown until they appeared at the Democratic National Convention three days ago.

In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Trump took issue with Khizr Khan, who had questioned whether Trump had read the U.S. Constitution and said Trump had “sacrificed nothing.” Trump responded by citing his hard work and business success.

“I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures,” Trump told host George Stephanopoulos. “I think they’re sacrifices. I think, when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things….”

Trump also noted his role in helping build a Vietnam Memorial in Manhattan.

But the Republican nominee immediately ignited another furor by saying Khan’s wife, Ghazala, had been “extremely quiet” onstage at the Democratic convention and perhaps she “wasn’t allowed to have anything to say.” The Khans say she was too distraught to speak about her son’s 2004 death.

Khan responded emotionally to Trump again on Sunday, saying he appreciates the candidate’s recognition of his son as a hero but that his ideas remain un-American. Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., or in other versions of the proposal, a ban on immigration from countries compromised by terrorism.

“His policies, his practices, do not reflect that he has any understanding of the basic, fundamental constitutional principles of this country, what makes this country exceptional in the history of mankind,” Khan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

In a column in The Washington Post on Sunday, Ghazala Khan responded to Trump’s questioning why she didn’t speak. “Without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain,” she wrote. “I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.”

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